Cheeky Suffolk seal hitches ride on rower’s boat

A grey seal decided to take a break from swimming recently, and hitched a ride on the front of the boat manned by solo sculler Terry Davey.

Mr Davey, 71, was travelling down the River Orwell, just a short distance from one of our holiday parks in Suffolk, when he decided to take a break for some water and a biscuit, 18 miles into his 25 mile journey.

He said that the seal popped up and started to rest his head on the oars, and then, after a little encouragement from Mr Davey, the seal put his flippers onto the boat and climbed up!

He reportedly jumped on and off the boat, before resting with his head over the side of the boat under the water, keeping an eye out for fish. Mr Davey stated has had a few grey squirrels hitch a ride before, but never a seal.

All told, the seal acted as a companion for Mr Davey for around 30 minutes before hopping off and heading on his way. A small section of the journey was caught on film, which can be seen below:

Mr Davey eventually finished his journey in five hours, and told the Ipswich Star "I'd have done it a lot faster without that bloomin' seal".